


Of Love and Beignets

by moon_opals



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Genre: Anna and Kristoff are frisky grandparents, F/M, Food, Grandma Anna, Grandpa Kristoff, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22022908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_opals/pseuds/moon_opals
Summary: Sixty years later, Anna and Kristoff go on their second honeymoon.
Relationships: Anna & Kristoff (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Naveen/Tiana (Disney), Tiana & Naveen (Disney)
Kudos: 15





	Of Love and Beignets

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a Kristanna Secret Santa. To my present receiver, I hope your holidays are going well and that you enjoy this story.
> 
> Story tidbits:
> 
> Anna and Kristoff are married with one daughter. Their daughter has four children and is the current ruler following her parents' abdication. Anna and Kristoff take one of their grandkids on their second honeymoon. They're cool like that.

“Can I have another one of your bayonets,” Anna asked, mouth covered in powdered sugar and crumbs. She grabbed a napkin to wipe her hands, but instead, she rolled a ball to wipe off the crumbs and residual sugar clunks to lick off.

Kristoff smiled on the corner of the circular coffee table, setting aside his half-eaten fried doughnut. Grabbing a napkin, he dabbed at the corners of her mouth. “Baby, they’re called beignets,” he corrected, chuckling at her stuffed cheeks. “Finish what you haven’t swallowed, and then we’ll ask for thirds.”

Anna nodded, reaching for her lemonade, and as she chewed, she sipped to make the food flow easier to her throat. The sweet mixture of sugar, honey, and dough made her stomach flutter, and she giggled, eyes bright as she raised her hand a third time. Kristoff returned to his beignet, tearing it in pieces. He had no attention of choking on the powdered sugar a third time.

“Have you seen, Freja,” he inquired, popping another piece into his mouth. He hummed brightly, the crow’s feet near his eyes winking at Anna. “I thought she said she was going to the restroom?” 

A waitress approached their table. Her skin was darker, sweeter than maple syrup, and when she smiled, the light reflected on ivory teeth. She pulled a pencil out of her curly bun, chuckling as her tip scratched on paper. “Now, what can I get you two, another set of beignets,” she smirked, “or maybe you’d like to try our crawfish etouffee with a side of fried mushrooms.”

“Oh, it sounds delicious,” she hummed, leaning back in her chair. She closed her eyes and forged an image that made her mouth water. “But...beignets,” she didn’t finish her sentence. A burp popped in her mouth, and she gasped, cheeks peppering red under freckles.

The waitress laughed. “If you mean the lady with white hair and eyes as blue as the summer skies,” she pointed her pencil over her shoulder towards a door across from the cash register, “well, she went in search for the cook.”

Anna and Kristoff exchanged uncertain looks. “The cook,” they said. “What did she say?”

“She wanted to meet him,” she answered with a smile, “she couldn’t help herself she said.”

Anna sighed, chuckling softly as she shook her head. “That’s our Freja,” she handed her the empty plate, hopeful. “We would like some of this crawfish etouffee and beignets, please.”

The woman scribbled their next order, smiling, when several men and women rushed out of the kitchen area. Their feet moved faster than their mouths, but all they could hear were shouts and cries of terror.

“Louis,” someone blubbered, crashing into one of the tables where another couple sat, enjoying soup. “Some crazy lady froze Louis’ feet,” he cried in between screams.

Anna and Kristoff didn’t state at each other, and they didn’t have to break into a sprint. The waitress cried out, shouting that guests weren’t allowed in the back, forgetting Freja had gone there moments ago.

Anna and Kristoff maneuvered around the cooks, asking desperately for information in between steps. It didn’t take them long to find the cause of disarray and panic. Anna and Kristoff’s brain stopped at the sight, almost too unbelievable to process. At the far end of the kitchen, there was a tail. A large, spike appendaged tail was iced to the floor, and as they approached, so were the feet, claws filed to dull but undeniably sharp tips.

What propelled them to action wasn’t the creature - animal itself. What made Anna dice for the much too heavy for her grip butcher’s knife was the young woman kneeling in front of the animal. Her coarse, kinky white hair was a wreath around her skin as she lifted what appeared to be a large, tall pot. 

Anna didn’t think twice. She charged, screaming at the top of her lungs, and the animal gasped, or gasped was what her ears told her what it did. Reptiles normally didn’t gasp. But that was irrelevant. She whipped out her free arm and hooked it around Freja’s, causing her to drop the pot, spilling water all around his feet.

"Grandmama,” she cried. “No, you don’t understand.”

“Get behind me, Freja,” Anna commanded in her most queenly tone, “Kristoff.”

Freja was shoved harshly behind her. Kristoff grabbed a cooling pan and wooden spoon, clanging on it as he skirted near the side. 

“Grandmama,” she whispered. “Please, don’t hurt Louis.”

Kristoff paused. “Louis?”

The lizard covered its face. “Yeah, don’t hurt Louis. I bruise easily.”

Anna and Kristoff did a double take. They knew, without a doubt, that animals didn’t use human language, and though this one shared the city’s accent and dialect, they were able to identify English when they heard.

“Did the reptile just talk,” Kristoff asked, lowering his pot and spoon.

“I am an alligator,” Louis lowered his arms, correcting him with offense thick in his tone. “American alligator, good sir, and professional trumpet player.”

Freja slipped out of Anna’s grasp and grabbed the pot, hoisting it in her arms to return it to the kitchen sink for more water, but the doors opened. The owners’ eyes were panicked in that universal way - saucer like, dilated, and they ran towards them, skidding to a stop with heaving chests and confusion drawn around the edges of their eyes and corners of their mouths.

The man - handsome - pinched his stare at them. He covered his mouth, then dropped his hand. “Papa Kristoff?” He looked good Anna, realization striking him double. “Mama Anna?”

Kristoff and Anna blinked confusedly, exchanging glances that begetted ‘Did you see this coming?’ The answer was no. No, they didn’t, but their confusion, like the winter rose, wilted under delight. They broke into small, sheepish, but no less joyous smiles.

“Naveen,” they said, happily.

“Hello?” The brown skinned woman - similar to Freja’s - frowned, crossing her arms. “What are you doing to my kitchen? And Louis?” She gestured to the reptile Freja was working to free. She cradled another heavy pot of lukewarm water onto the alligator’s feet. Lifting her head, she mimicked her grandparents’ sheepish grin, chuckling softly as she said in a clear, crystal voice. “I froze him, but only partially.” She turned to Louis. “I am so sorry, Louis.”

Louis, though threatened by a butcher’s knife and frozen stuck to the kitchen floor, smiled a sharp toothed grin. “Aw shucks, Frey-Frey,” he chuckled, “seeing a girl with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen and magic hands is more than a treat for old Louis.”

Naveen cleared his throat, spreading his arms in introduction. “Mama Anna and Papa Kristoff, please, let me introduce you to Tiana, owner of Tiana’s Place and my wife.”

“Oh,” Anna flushed.

“Right,” Kristoff scratched his neck.

“Sorry,” Freja began pouring water on Louis’ take.

* * *

“Your godparents?” Tiana massaged her temples, bundled away in a room used as a makeshift office. “You forgot to mention they were visiting town.”

Once everything was settled, Louis freed, and the kitchen cleaned, they bundled away to the loft above the restaurant where Tiana and Naveen called home.

Anna and Kristoff sat straight backed, flushed face at the table. Offered some coffee, Anna declined respectfully, stomach still full from its previous meal. 

“I didn’t know they were visiting,” Naveen said apologetically, sipping his coffee, “and dear, it’s been a busy week.”

“Oh, we didn’t want to make a fuss about it,” Anna explained. “When we abdicated, we promised ourselves we wouldn’t try to overrun our daughter's rule,” she waved animatedly for emphasis. "She’s doing amazing by the way. Very studious.”

Naveen chuckled. “Mother always appreciated Auntie Ragnhild’s dry sense of humor, even today,” he faced Tiana. “They spent their summers together. In Maldonia. In Arendelle.” At the word, he set his arm on the table, staring at them inquisitively. “Oh, please, tell me. How has Arendelle fared?”

Kristoff chuckled. “From Ragnhild’s last letter and news reports, Arendelle is recovering from The Great War.” His expression didn’t change much, though the lines near his mouth tightened, flattening downward. “Arendelle suffered heavy losses, you know.”

“The world did,” Anna said, grabbing his hand and curling deftly around it. Her smile was warmer than sunflowers, but a hallowing grief lied in the currents. “We’ve all lost something, but Ragnhild is a steadfast queen. Determined and clever. Arendelle is recovering, just as Maldonia is. We visited there, you know.”

“Oh, you did?” Naveen chuckled. “I’m sure little has changed.”

“You’d be surprised,” Freja commented sardonically. “But tell me,” she cleared her throat, “we’ve only heard snippets of your story.” She gestured to Tiana. “Separating fact from fiction is something I take to heart.”

“Oh?” Tiana grinned, tucking her wrist under her round cheek, “Are you ready to believe, even when fact appears like fiction?”

Naveen leaned close to Tiana. “Honey drop, she’s a daughter of ice and snow, and her great aunt is the Snow Queen.”

Freja laughed. Anna and Kristoff jumped, as if startled, which they were. Covering her mouth with her hand, she chuckled in a poised, dainty manner. When she dropped the hand, curling it on the table, she tilted her head in a way to suggest mischief.

“Aunt Elsa isn’t as scary as she sounds,” she japed. “She’s three times colder and five times warmer, if you believe the rumors.” 

Tiana grinned. “I wager my story is weirder.” The women teased each other, betting on whose adventure exceeded abnormal expectations the most.

Under the table, Anna’s hand found Kristoff’s, and she gripped it tightly, passing along a soft, appreciative smile that bubbled in her heart. She couldn’t remember - no, that wasn’t right. She could remember the last time she felt this whole, this complete, and although it hadn’t been long ago, there were moments when she’d forget they existed at all. 

Kristoff squeezed her hand tightly, not enough to hurt - never to hurt - and smiled brightly at her before flickering to Freja. “Honey,” he offered, “I thought you wanted to go sightseeing. We’re supposed to meet our tour guide soon.”

Naveen’s expression brightened like the sun peeking across the horizon. His eyes lit up, and his grin turns sharper, more delighted than it had any right to be. “Tiana,” he turned, grasping his wife’s hand, “we should show them around town. No one knows the city better than you.”

“Mama would disagree.”

Freja clapped. “It sounds like a great plan,” she added. “But we don’t want to intrude anymore than we already have.” Anna wanted to cup her cheeks and squeeze as she did when she was small. The likeness uncanny. The way she held her hands near her mouth, timid yet enthused for possibility, and her eyes, brighter than the moon’s, cradled under deep sorrow. Anna wanted to kiss it all away, but she was no fool. She ran circles above Kristoff’s knuckles.

“If you like,” Anna suggested, “we can go out into the city. We want to send your mother and siblings a great story, don’t we?”

“Sven needs a good story.” Kristoof sighed longingly, “I miss him so much.”

It was an unanimous agreement. Tiana and Naveen were ready to close for a few hours anyways, and there wasn’t much left on their schedule. They paid the hired guide for his troubles and crammed into Tiana’s car, more excited than squished, but she didn’t drive them far, making sure to keep them in the safe parts of the city, which seemed obvious but wasn’t when all was covered in shadow.

“The French Quarter is happening right now,” she pointed ahead. “I know my place is a hotspot, but Miss Marie’s bread is the best in town.” She also listed Miss Marie’s art gallery and hair products. Anna pretended not to see the way Freja touched her own, kinky and tight, similar to Tiana’s but whitened by magic, the same magic that ran through her great-aunt’s. 

Tiana offered an intimacy, unseen and untold. No crevice went unnoticed. No cobblestone went unturned. History, knowledge, and love was gathered in spoonfuls, teasing them with a smart grin and keen eye. Freja fell deeply, like a puppy. Infatuated with the city than anything else, she trailed after her guides, clasping her hands as she ooed and awed, asking questions after every explanation.

Her resurgence was the cause for their delay. The first to notice their absence, Freja spun around, smile turning downward as they slid onto an iron bench built on the sidewalk. Like the comforting grandparents, pained at the thought of giving their family cause for worry, they soothed her with compliments and reassurances.

“We may not look like we’re in our eighties,” Anna confessed, cupping her cheek as she slid her thumb over brown freckles, “but we are old, young lady.”

“Grandmama,” she huffed, “I know the magic sustains you as it does you.” She eyed Kristoff knowingly, and he played the part of feeble grandfather well, leaning on Anna’s shoulder as he released a loud snore.

“Dear,” she chuckled snorted. “It seems your grandfather is down for the count. Go on ahead and come back and get us. We’ll have our kind of fun right here.”

She hesitated. Anna could see it in her eyes, the wavering trepidation caught one desire and fear, but she conceded to desire, both hers and theirs. Nodding slowly, she reckoned, teeth worrying her plump, large bottom lip.

“Okay,” she said in a single breathe. “We won’t go far, and please,” she stressed as if she was the parent and they, her mischievous children, “do not get into any trouble.”

Kristoff gasped, mockingly offended. He clutched his chest, closing both eyes just to crack one open to measure her flat expression. “You wound me,” he chuckled slyly. “You know it’s my job to keep her out of trouble,” he nudged Anna playfully. Their chuckles danced in the special realm annexed from the rest of the world, depending on its confusion and ignorance. Their secrets were theirs to keep.

Freja exhaled, shoulders slumping. “Fine, you can take a break here,” she pulled back reluctantly, eyeing them suspiciously, “you’ve had a strong lunch.” She waved to Tiana and Naveen. “We’ll be back soon. Do not move from this spot.”

Anna rolled her eyes, smile present. “Yes, Freja dear.”

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Kristoff added encouragingly. “Go have fun.”

Her brow needled thoughtfully, hesitant to step away, and the resemblance was uncanny. So much like her, Anna thought, reaching for hand. Small and a deep, earthy brown. “We’ll be right here when you get back,” she smiled, silently pleading this will suffice in soothing her nerves.

“Yes, Grandmama,” she sighed. She leaned to kiss their cheeks, and she waved goodbye, jogging to Tiana and Naveen. They watched the group disappear around the corner, only the briefest moment where she turned to look at them at the corner, though her smile remained firm.

“I worry for her,” Kristoff breathed at last. “This tour was a good idea.”

Anna nodded, waving a group of children running ahead. “Haakon had it right. Distance can help,” she confessed.

“He loved to travel,” Kristoff chuckled softly. “He always marked the placed he’d visit as an adult.” His brow crinkled. “I’m glad,” he forced out, “I’m glad he was able to achieve some of his dreams.”

Anna swallowed, nodding. “Ragnhild writes Elsa’s finally returned to the fjord.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and bundled them closely, despite the summer heat. “A good sign,” he sighed. “A very good sign, after,” he paused, mouth lines tightening at memory, “what do you think he’d have to say about this place?”

Anna glanced at him, spotting a pale skinned, freckled boy running alongside a group of darker skinned children. His eyes were a murky, river green and hair as coarse as the others, despite its light chestnut hair. Her heart tightened at the sight, familiar yet not the same, and she swallowed thickly, blinking away tears.

“I think…,” she paused, licking her upper lip, “I think he’d love the food, but not what he’s read in the papers. The culture is vibrant, lively, but he’d want to return home in time, just as Freja would and does.”

Kristoff brought her knuckles to his lips. “I think he’d probably stay for two months or so,” he continued, “and he’d write us letters, just as he did before.”

What he would do was confined as exactly that, unable to materialize into did or done. A cruel fact they resigned themselves to the moment they received the notice, but Anna refused to close her eyes to grief, even a grief as pronounced as this. 

“Freja will feel the same when we leave,” she clasped Kristoff’s hand, “but we must convince Ragnild and Abam to visit one of these days. They need it.”

Kristoff was thoughtful, contemplating the energy they’d have to spend on such a venture. “As queen and prince consort they’d be pretty busy.” He smiled, returning her strength, “But if we can get Ingrid and Magnus on board.”

At last, a fiery chuckle slipped out of her mouth, and she covered her mouth as she leaned into his touch, pressing deeply into his warm, earth scented shirt. “That won’t be hard,” her bright eyed held him still as it had done for more than six decades, “they’re easy to please, and I know they are dying for an adventure.” 

As the planet turned on its axis, as children flocked in merriment and laughter, they sat together on their bench, feeling winter’s distant breeze tickle their cheeks as if in memory.

**Author's Note:**

> All feedback is appreciated, and I hope you have a happy holiday!


End file.
